* Energy stocks gain, shrug off oil price slide

* Miners weaker, tracking weaker metals * Banks weaker, but insurers up on Friends Prov M&A talk

By Simon Falush

LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - Gains in energy stocks, shrugging off a retreat in oil prices, offset weakness in banks and miners to leave Britain's top share index flat in early trade on Monday.

By 0801 GMT the FTSE 100 .FTSE was 1.41 points higher at 4,128.58 after it lost 31.49 points to close at 4,127.17 on Friday, its lowest close since April 28.

The blue-chip index has fallen 6.7 percent this year but is up 19.3 percent since touching a six-year low in March.

Miners were on the back foot as metal prices continued to soften as confidence on the demand outlook for raw materials crumbled.

Rio Tinto (RIO.L: Quote, Profile, Research), Kazakhmys (KAZ.L: Quote, Profile, Research), Lonmin (LMI.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and BHP Billiton (BLT.L: Quote, Profile, Research) fell between 0.2 and 1.6 percent.